CASA of New Jersey Elects Three to Board of Trustees

NEWS

Contact: Liza Kirschenbaum

Phone Number: (609) 695-9400

East Brunswick, New Jersey, August 21, 2024

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of New Jersey is pleased to welcome three new Trustees to its Board of Trustees: Jennifer Murrin of Butler, Kamara Russo of Highland Park, and Lynda Sun Lee of Berkeley Heights. Each of these three new Trustees brings a unique perspective which will help propel the organization’s mission and achieve its strategic goals.

Jennifer Murrin is no stranger to CASA, having served as the founding Executive Director of Bergen County CASA, from 2003 to 2013. She has remained deeply involved in community service through non-profit organizations and is currently the Executive Director of Quality and Compliance at North Jersey Friendship House, a nonprofit organization providing mental health and vocational rehabilitation services to adults with varying abilities and developmental needs. Ms. Murrin brings with her not only an important local CASA program perspective, but more than two decades of nonprofit management experience in virtually every area, from HR and compliance to strategic planning and fiscal management, to volunteer recruitment and training. In the months leading up to her election, Ms. Murrin was an integral part of CASA of New Jersey’s Legislative Workgroup.

Kamara Russo is a CPA and a Business Manager at the Rutgers Cancer Institute, where she oversees all aspects of financial and productivity reporting and acts as a liaison with the New Jersey Department of Health. Ms. Russo brings a critical and unique perspective to the CASA of New Jersey Board, having aged out of the foster care system as a young adult. She brings the power of lived expertise to the CASA of New Jersey Board and has a long history of assisting and advocating for foster youth and alumni, including ensuring the passage of legislation to help foster youth obtain their driver’s licenses. Ms. Russo also sits on the Board of Embrella (formerly Foster and Adoptive Services of NJ), helping foster families, and has served as an Associate Board Member for CASA of NYC. Prior to her election to the CASA of New Jersey Board, she worked with the organization’s Finance and Audit Committee for nearly a year, assisting the organization with budgeting, fiscal management, and review of our latest audit.

Lynda Sun Lee is a retired pharmaceutical company executive who is currently working as an independent strategic advisor and consultant to a variety of companies, both inside and outside of the consumer healthcare environment. Ms. Lee dedicates a significant amount of her time to giving back to her community in retirement, including serving on the Board of Spectrum 360, a provider of special education and adult services for people with autism spectrum disorder. She now brings her unique perspective to the CASA of New Jersey Board as well, having been a volunteer advocate for the CASA program serving Union County for the past two years, where she recently was appointed to a case advocating for a sibling group in out-of-home placement. Prior to her election to the Board of Trustees, Ms. Lee was an integral member of CASA of New Jersey’s Governance Committee, helping to set strategic priorities for the organization and ensure that policies and practices are in line with those priorities.

Angie Waters, Executive Director of CASA of New Jersey commented that “The Board and Staff of CASA of New Jersey look forward to working with each of these three accomplished women as they join our Board. They each bring a valuable and unique perspective to the organization given their experiences with CASA and the populations that we serve.”

CASA programs throughout the State of New Jersey recruit and train community volunteers who are appointed to advocate for the best interests of children removed from their homes based on allegations of abuse or neglect. CASA of New Jersey is proud to serve and support these programs and looks forward to tapping into the wisdom and insights of its newest Trustees in doing so.

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About Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of New Jersey

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of New Jersey serves and supports a statewide network of CASA programs providing advocacy and services to foster children from every vicinage in New Jersey.

CASA programs recruit and train volunteers from every community in the state who work to ensure the safety and well-being of New Jersey’s most vulnerable citizens—abused and neglected children and youth in foster care and other out-of-home placements.

CASA of New Jersey's goal is to bring CASA advocacy to every child in need. To find out more about the CASA program visit https://www.casaofnj.org/.